Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor
Summary: This is book 3 of the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy, so this will contain spoilers for the first two books. Here are my reviews for book 1 and book 2.
For the final act of this story, the major battle ends up being not between the seraphim and the chimaera, but all of them against the Dominion, the brutal force captained by the newly crowned emperor, Jael. And Jael's major plans involve showing up in the human world and returning to Eretz with weapons of mass destruction.
Finally united in a tenuous alliance, Akiva and Karou must find a way to convince the remaining seraphim and chimaera to set aside their differences long enough to stop this even greater threat to their existence, as well as anyone else who stands in their way.
Thoughts: I loved this one, but I loved it a little less than the first two, and it was mainly because I feel like the last few chapters really weren't necessary. Without spoiling exactly what happens, let's just say that I was ready for the end, and then so much more got added that it kinda lost me a little, and I even had to go back and reread it. It kinda left me feeling like, Hey, haven't Karou and Akiva been through enough??? It felt like more drama just for the sake of more drama. Like, noooooot yettttt, readers!
That said, everything BEFORE that was awesome. We have a new character introduced named Eliza, and though there were parts of her story that also kinda lost me a little, overall she's an interesting character.
There are other things that happen that I really don't want to spoil (I know, these books have been out for years, but still!), but I love the twists and turns--I like being cleverly tricked, as a reader. I like when something happens that I did NOT see coming (for example, what happened with Karou, Thiago, and Ziri at the end of book 2), and there are some great moments like that in this third book.
Overall, I LOVED this series, and if it were ever made into a movie, I would definitely watch it, since it's so richly visual in its descriptions, and of course, there is a ton of action to behold. It's smart, sexy, and has some pretty great quotable lines, and I'm definitely sorry that it's over.